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Motorola: Apple Android-deprived flagship Nexus 6 fingerprint scanner

Jan

27

2015

When Apple bought the company AuthenTec she not only has at its disposal advanced technology in the field of biometric identification, but also deprived of an important advantage of its main competitor in the mobile market. If this deal did not materialize, the flagship smartphone Nexus 6 with reference Android-platform would be equipped with a fingerprint scanner. This was explained in an interview with Telegraph former head of Motorola Dennis Woodside.

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“In fact, a 6-inch Nexus 6 was cornered one of the major players – the former head of Motorola. – The recess on the back side of the body of the smartphone, which helps to keep the device was supposed to carry a more serious meaning. The thing is that there was supposed to be a fingerprint reader, but Apple bought the best in the industry manufacturer of sensors. The second best supplier at the time was available to everyone, but he did not have all the necessary technologies. ”

Apple bought the leading provider of security solutions, identification and sensor control AuthenTec in July 2012 for $ 356 million. Before absorption Recently Created sensor «Smart Sensor», which can be integrated into a touchscreen smartphone and used to read fingerprints. A year later, Apple presented the iPhone 5s, which had the opportunity to read fingerprints.

His reference the Nexus 6, codenamed Shamu, the Internet giant Google introduced together with Motorola in October 2014. The device could really get a fingerprint scanner, but the creators have deprived him of this feature shortly before the official announcement.

The fact that the Nexus 6 had to get a biometric sensor, shows the code detected by the programmer in the AOSP-ROM images for your smartphone. It was also found a note «Shamu: remove fingerprint support» («Shamu: remove support for fingerprint”), left in August 2014.

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